


safe

by Mistflyer1102



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27072988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistflyer1102/pseuds/Mistflyer1102
Summary: After the Battle of Endor, Hera takes a moment with her son.
Relationships: Hera Syndulla & Jacen Syndulla
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	safe

“No! Mine!”

Hera Syndulla put on a look of mock offense. “Yours? Well, technically, it belongs to Commander Rhys, but we won’t tell him that, okay?” she said as she leaned over to gingerly pry Jacen’s fingers off the flight helmet that he had picked up from somewhere. Where, or even if it had been on one of the ships or one of the camps, she didn’t know, but she figured that the owner would come looking for it sooner or later. “Besides, it’s a little too big for you, don’t you think?” she asked, giving up as Jacen moved away from her attempts. She then leaned over to scoop Jacen up and put him back on the blanket she’d spread out on the grassy forest floor of Endor next to the _Ghost_ ’s boarding ramp. She then raised her hands when Jacen tried to scoot away again. “Okay, how about you stay on the blanket, and I won’t try to take the helmet?” she suggested, folding her arms across her chest in mock annoyance.

Jacen nodded, and settled down again. He then put the helmet back on his head where, as she suspected, the visor promptly slid down past his eyes.

Hera leaned back on both arms to survey the small camp where she was taking a few moments to catch her breath in between moving newly-arrived supply crates around for distribution. She had waited until the activity from the Battle of Endor had truly settled down before retrieving Jacen and bringing him here, to keep him close to the rest of the fleet. _Well, what’s left of it, at least_ , she thought darkly as she watched a few pilots return to collect more supplies for distribution. Chopper remained guarding the supplies as she had asked him to since she could watch Jacen now, she could see Wedge talking to another pilot nearby, and a few Ewoks were poking around the crates curiously. Rumor among Alliance Command, from what snatches she’d caught, was that Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader had been killed above the Death Star when it blew. 

_Did you see that, Kanan? Your son is now safe._

She let out a slow exhale. In little moments like these, she always felt Kanan’s absence as a dull ache in her heart. _I miss you_.

“Mom!”

“Jacen, there’s no need to shout, I’m right here,” she said, glancing at him. The helmet was turning each and every way as Jacen turned his head sharply from left to right. “And I’m on your left...remember which hand is your left?”

She couldn’t help the smile as Jacen promptly raised his left hand. “Good job! Now raise your right hand, and wiggle your fingers at me,” she said, smiling softly as he raised his right hand, and then wiggled his fingers in her direction. “Yay, good job!” she said, leaning over as though to ruffle his hair. As she predicted he would, Jacen ducked her hand, and then tried to swat her away while still maintaining his balance.

“Don’t mess up my hair!”

Hera arched a brow at him. “I hate to tell you this, Jacen, but that helmet is doing a better job of messing up your hair more than I ever could,” she said, eyeing the Ewok just beyond Jacen that was beginning to pry at the lid of a crate marked _Munitions_ . “Chopper, can you please check on the crate on your five?” she asked, raising her voice as the Ewok managed to get the lid off. _Force, these creatures are everywhere_ . “Chopper or Wedge, whomever hears me first, check the munitions stockpile now,” she said, raising her voice when she failed to attract Chopper’s attention. “Preferably _before we all blow up,_ please,” she added, her lekku twitching in annoyance when no one immediately responded.

Chopper may be used to ignoring her, but Wedge certainly knew better. “Apologies, ma’am, I got distracted trying to decipher Commander Rhys’s latest transmission,” he said, nearly dropping the datapad as he scanned the camp, and began to move quickly through the maze of supplies towards the crates in question. “And Luke was checking in too, I was starting to get worried about him,” he added, tucking the datapad under his jacket before he reached out for the misbehaving Ewok.

Ah, Luke. Commander Rhys had certainly complained about Luke before, primarily about his recklessness. Hera pressed her lips together thoughtfully as she glanced down at Jacen. She hadn’t worked with Luke before since he had been part of Red, then Rogue Squadron while she remained in charge of Phoenix. However, she, and other officers, hadn’t missed the way Luke’s cockiness seemed to settle somewhat after a particularly nasty encounter with Darth Vader on Bespin a year before. The risk-taking didn’t seem to have abated though, especially if the rumors were true and he did in fact surrender to Vader before the Battle of Endor. 

But she also knew that Wedge was best friends with Luke, and was Luke’s second-in-command. Now that Wedge no longer had to worry about enemy starfighters, he could worry about his friends. 

“Mom!”

A clump of pine needles hit her cheek, and she blinked, looking away from Wedge wrestling with now two Ewoks to find Jacen watching her. Or at least he would be if the helmet actually fit and he could see through the visor. He held up another fistful of pine needles. “Can I keep these too?”

“As long as you don’t make a mess in your room with them later.” She knew he would try not to, but the mess was inevitable. “But not a lot, okay?”

Jacen nodded, and returned his attention back to feeling around the ground for more pine needles. After making sure Wedge had the Ewok situation under control--which he somehow had pulled off and was holding both Ewoks by their collars while using a foot to stall a third--she closed her eyes and reminded herself that just because the Emperor was gone, doesn’t mean the Empire was.

_But Jacen is that much safer now._

**Author's Note:**

> Star Wars and all related media belong to Disney.


End file.
